You might've seen these a couple of days back from some low quality digital camera shots, but we had to remove them for legal reasons. They're back thanks to fourengland, and certain people at Ziff Davis Media should take note that they're not taken from any of their publications. We can finally confirm that the character you play as in GTAAdvance is known as Mike, and the game is set one year prior to Grand Theft Auto 3. Yes, it really is a portable GTA, and with the console now available for a staggering $79.99 in the USA, you'd be hard pushed to find a better bargain! Onward, to the images!

In other news, the GTA: Vice City PS2 screenshots gallery has been updated (ooh, the nostalgia) with some new code and a good hundred or so new images [to this site]. Have fun browsing!

Although GamePro Australia contains no new screenshots, it does have a bit of information in its 8-page San Andreas preview that is pretty interesting. Here are some of the more interesting points in the article

Dialouge Boxes: When communicating with NPCs, players will be given simple answer options for posed questions.

Climbing: Your character now has the ability to jump, gra-on and climb over almost any "reachable" object in the game. This includes crates and backyard fences with animations reminiscent of the foot component of Tony Hawk Underground.

Altitude: Gamers expecting the flat terrain of Vice City will be shocked by the extreme variety in altitude through SA. Not only is there a mountain, but the countryside drifts between highs and lows like a drawn out rollercoaster. Even in the cities there are some sharp slopes, which is great for jumps.

Vehicle Jacking: Almost everything in the game can be jacked. In our demo we saw; pushbikes, motorbikes, quad-bikes, dirt-bikes, Harley's, Monster Trucks, 4WDs, convertibles, lowriders, dinghys, tractors, combine harvesters, speedboats, helicopters, light-planes, trams and there were some tasty hints regarding trains and possibly even skateboards. The animations and AI reactions were quite varied too.

I would also like to add that the model created by De Espona (The Tractor) is converted into a LOCKED DFF file and can/should never be reopened again. So use of this model in any other applications is impossible/not allowed. If you like this model and would like to use it for other applications then you may purchase it from the De Espona 3d model enciclopedia at (www.deespona.com)

Be sure to visit IGN.com this coming Friday for a "blowout" on Grand Theft Auto Advance, which is still on track for its October 19th release in the USA. The editors have placed a little teaser image online, in higher quality than we've seen already which you can see by clicking here. IGN have also confirmed the origin of the game is the United Kingdom, suggesting it is in development at either Rockstar Leeds (formerly Mobius Entertainment, creators of the Max Payne GBA Conversion) or Rockstar North.

Ali aka air_boy75 informs me of a new teaser site, (unofficial), called Juank Air, based on the supposed San Andreas airline company. It's not much, but it's something to check out if you have 15 seconds to spare. :p

Firstly, just want to clear up the result of the poll. The purpose of the question is that content must be sized so that when an 800x600 user views it - it does not force them to scroll horizontally. Whether or not it is fullscreen is irrelevant. I put forward this question to see if anyone cared about 800x600, if not it would allow for slightly more horizontal space in the 'middle frame'. Seeing as there is still a large number of votes towards 800x600, the fitted size will remain as is - at least for now.

The reason V2 has taken so long is me (as the developer behind this site). This upgrade is actually more than it seems - GTAGaming is splitting off from the Edge Network. So while GTAGaming V2 will show several new features, there is the possibility of a lot more later on. The new design is not too different from the current one, though it has themes for the various GTA games. That's all I'll say for now :)

Take 2 Games has released some information about Grand Theft Auto: Advance along with a chance to pre-order the game. The developers of the title were finally confirmed as Digital Eclipse and Rockstar North. Many people had speculated that newly acquired Mobius Entertainment (aka Rockstar Leeds), would be developing the Game Boy Advance title, but it seems they may be working on a more important project. The game's official feature list, along with an official plot summary were posted on the site earlier today:

It was supposed to be the last job you and Vinnie would do for the mob. After this, you'd both have enough money to escape this vicious circle, and Liberty City, for good. Then Vinnie's getaway car went up in a ball of flame along with all the cash. Suddenly every cop in the city is chasing you down. You'll get out of Liberty City all right, but not before you find Vinnie's murderers and turn the tables on whomever it is that's out to get you.

Features:

Open-ended gameplay that provides hours of portable entertainment.

An all-new, revenge-driven storyline that puts you on the tail of your mentor's murderers.

Explore and exploit a sprawling, handheld Liberty City.

Also, GTA: Advance is now available for sale at the Rockstar Warehouse for $29.99. To order, click here.

When Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) hold their 'strategy conference' next Tuesday, in Tokyo, the look on the media's faces will be that of "I told you so". Rumours have been flying around the UK gaming media, including respectable trade only publications like MCV and EDGE, that a slimmed down version of the Playstation 2, similar to the PSone, is in development. Bloomberg have already announced that Ken Kutaragi has been earmarked for the conference, suggesting a major announcement from SCE. Held just days before the 2004 Tokyo Game Show, it seems to be the ideal launch pad for a new console.

Claims have been made that the development of the revamped machine is further along than many would think, and that it is on course for a Fall 2004 release. With this being the case, could San Andreas' delay be due to pressure from Sony? The Japanese giant knows the huge potential of the Grand Theft Auto series, and understands that it alone can make gamers part with their cash in exchange for new consoles. Many will dismiss this with "Vice City suffered the same delay", but this too can be discounted by looking into Rockstar's current campaigns for the game's promotion. Several magazines across the United States and continental Europe have already printed advertisements for the game, with the original release dates. (19/22 October respectively). Clearly this 'push' from Sony will have come in the past two weeks, considering Rockstar's initial confidence of meeting the deadline.

Several online sources have also suggested that with November being a crucial month for console competition (Halo 2 and GTA: San Andreas both launched within two weeks of each other), Sony are eager to crash Microsoft's party. With only one of their 'killer-apps' available to launch at the same time as the console, Sony's contractural agreement with Rockstar may have been stretched to allow both to launch simultaneously.

While there's no official word on this, all will be revealed this Tuesday, when journalists will scrutinize Kuturagi's every word.